The Destruction of Gryffindor Tower
by Dimcairien
Summary: What happens when James, Louis, and Fred rig Gryffindor tower with Whizbangs? Nothing short of destruction, but it's at a great scale than what the boys were expecting. Can the damage be fixed? Rating for safety.


_**A/N This story is briefly referenced in Third Generation Goes Back, but it isn't necessary to read.**_

_**I had posted this earlier under a story for one-shots, but I figured that there would be more people reading it if it were published individually, so here it is. I will be deleting 'Random One-Shots' once I post the other story which is in it, but I'm not permanently deleting any stories.  
**_

_**This adventure is taking place Christmastime of 2017, the year of the Epilogue.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**_

It was the beginning of the Christmas holidays and James Sirius Potter was bored. Whenever James was bored, destruction was fairly likely, but it his cousins Fred and Louis were added to the mix, it would be a smart idea to move far away.

On this particular day James, Fred, and Louis were lounging in the Gryffindor common room trying to come up with something exciting. The majority of the Weasley family had decided to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays, but would go home for Christmas Eve night and Christmas day. Personally knowing several of the professors and being related to another had their advantages.

"We could tease the Giant Squid," suggested Louis from his perch on the sofa.

"Did that," said Fred, who was lying on his back on the floor. "While you were in this Hospital Wing after getting knocked out by a Blundger."

"Oh," said a clearly disappointed Louis.

"What about turning the floor of the Great Hall into ice?" asked Fred.

"We don't know the Transfiguration spells for that yet. We're only second years," said James sadly, who was laying sideways in an easy chair. "We'll have to do that once we can though."

"So what can we do?" asked Louis, leaning back with his hands behind his head.

"I'll tell you what," said a new voice. Louis' oldest sister, Victoire, who also happened to be Head Girl, had just walked in through the portrait hole. "You can act like three normal second year boys and clear out of here. A bunch of us need to study for NEWTs."

"Can't you go to the library?" asked James who quickly moved into a proper position for the chair.

"Too noisy," Victoire answered. "Now scat and don't blow anything up."

"Thanks, Vic!" shouted Fred as the three dashed to their dorm.

"You're welco-, Damn! What did I just do?" Victoire said in panic because she had just given three notorious pranksters an idea.

Meanwhile the three boys were busy planning a prank, more specifically an explosion of some sort. It was all thanks to Victoire of course. They hadn't thought of exploding something.

"Should I write Dad and ask for some Whizbangs?" asked Fred.

"Wouldn't hurt," said Louis. "As long as my and James' parents don't find out."

"They won't," Fred assured. "Dad's good at keeping things secret."

"Yeah, and Mum's good at finding things out," retorted James. "Do it though. I know Dad won't mind as long as no one is injured."

Fred snuck off to the owlry to send a note to the Hogsmeade shop where George was working for the day.

About half an hour later, and several discarded ideas for the item that was soon to be remnants, which ranged from the Slytherin dinning table to the Whomping Willow, the box of Whizbangs arrived. George had sent a note with it.

_Have fun boys, don't do anything too dangerous, and keep the mess level down a bit.  
P.S. Try exploding a room. Perhaps one of the dungeons._

"I love Uncle George," said James. "Who else would say not to make a mess and in the next sentence suggest we blow up a dungeon room."

"That's an idea, but I think I have a better one," said Louis. He leaned over and whispered into his cousins' ears. The idea had immediate approval which meant it was both wild and dangerous.

"So, when should we do this?" asked Fred.

"Christmas Eve?" James suggested. "We need a Christmas prank before we go home for a few days."

"Christmas Eve it is," agreed the other two. And they continued their planning.

* * *

The next few days passed quite calmly, which caused most people to relax. Those who knew the Weaslotters, as James, Fred, and Louis had dubbed themselves in their first year, grew worried. Whenever there was a lull in the pranks a big one was in the making.

"It's been nearly a week since I've had to deal with any pranks from the Weaslotters," said Neville at breakfast Christmas Eve. "I'm starting to get worried about what is planned."

"So am I," McGonagall agreed. Suddenly a huge explosion shook the Great Hall.

"What was that?" cried a first year Ravenclaw boy.

No one had the time to answer though because a shout came from the direction of Gryffindor Tower. "James Sirius Potter! Frederick Jordan Weasley! Louis William Weasley! You are all in deep trouble. And I'm going to kill you!"

"Well, you don't have to worry anymore," said McGonagall as chaos descended on the Great Hall.

* * *

Earlier, while everyone else was at breakfast, James, Fred, and Louis had been rigging up a system of Whizbangs throughout Gryffindor Tower. The only area that didn't have them was the girls' dorms as there were no girls involved. (Too bad Roxy isn't here yet," bemoaned Fred, "'cause we could destroy the girls dorms as well.") Other than that, nearly every surface had a Whizbang. They had managed to rig them into three systems that all came out of the portrait hole.

Thankfully the Fat Lady was off visiting some friend or other, so they didn't have to bother with her questioning.

"Ready?" asked James. The other two nodded, they lit the fuses, and ran. A few moments later an explosion rocked the castle and they heard the shout from Victoire, who had chosen that particular time to head back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Of all the luck," Louis muttered as they ran as fast as they could.

The boys ran until the reached the seventh floor and soon entered the Room of Requirement.

"I wonder how much damage was done," mused Fred.

"To bad Miss Head Girl caught us," said an annoyed James. "Wish Dom could've been the one. She'd've helped." Dominique, the other sister of Louis was a prankster, but not as crazy of a one as Louis. She did enjoy helping the Weaslotters on occasion though.

"Yeah, but it still will probably be worth it," said Louis. "I just hope something crazy happened."

The boys settled down to wait until the coast was clear and they could investigate the extent of the damage of their prank.

* * *

Victoire gave up her pursuit of the boys when she figured there wasn't any point in chasing them. She headed back to the Great Hall to find it in disarray.

"What did they do now?" asked Frank Longbottom, a Gryffindor fourth year.

"Will they be expelled?" called eleven year old Molly from the Ravenclaw table.

"I don't know, but they are in boiling water," growled Victoire.

"What did they do?" sighed Neville.

"They blew up Gryffindor Tower!" she cried. "Or at least tried to."

"Is that even supposed to happen?" asked Rose. "I highly doubt it is possible, even for them."

If it had been chaotic when no one knew what was going on, it was even worse now. McGonagall tried to calm everyone down, but to now quail. Finally Neville sent several sparks along with some minor bangs from his wand. This stopped the chatter and brought everyone's attention to the front.

"Everyone calm down," he said. "This is James Potter and Fred and Louis Weasley we're dealing with. It's bound to be something crazy. Now, if you could all go quietly about your plans for today, we will deal with the problem. And Gryffindors, if what Miss Weasley says is true, -("It is!" Victoire interjected.)- we will get something figured out."

"What do they think they're up to?" asked Lucy, Molly's younger twin sister who was a Gryffindor.

"I have no idea, but I'm going to kill them," Victoire growled.

"Just be gentle about it," said Dom, "even if they might deserve it."

"If James is involved, he'll deserve it" Al piped up from the Slytherin table.

"Just be glad the entire castle didn't get blown up," Scorpius pointed out. He was sitting next to Al.

"Now then, Miss Weasley, let's try and be reasonable. And Mr. Malfoy has a good point. Most of the castle is still fine," said Neville. "Professors, let's go and see what three pranksters have unleashed on us this Christmas Eve."

The professors got up from the table and headed outside to see if there was any damage visible from the outside before the tried to enter the tower. The majority of the students headed for their dormitories, the library, or somewhere outside. The Gryffindors all headed for the two latter areas. Instead of Gryffindor tower being in its normal location, all of it, minus the section with the girls' dorms (which was now floating in midair), had been transported to the shore of the lake.

"What in the world?" cried McGonagall in horror. "And I thought the Marauders and Weasley twins were bad!"

"What happened?" calked a new voice. It was the Defense Professor, who happened to be Bill Weasley. "What did the Weaslotters do this time?"

"Look at Gryffindor tower," answered Neville simply.

Bill looked toward the lake and gasped. His face showed confusion, amusement, and anger all at once. "What the heck did they do?" he asked, trying to keep his face straight. He wanted to go and thrash his son and nephews, but he also wanted to congratulate them for such an interesting prank at the same time.

"I think it had to do with those fireworks Fred and George invented," said the Transfiguration professor, Sally-Anne Perks. "Or that's my guess."

"George," muttered Bill. "Of course he'd supply them with Whizbangs if Fred asked."

"So, what do we do?" asked Neville. "There's no manual for the movement of towers. Come to think of it, is this even supposed to be possible?"

"I doubt the founders had considered fireworks being rigged up throughout Gryffindor tower," said McGonagall. "We should have considered it though, as these boys are master pranksters."

"Where are the boys anyway?" asked Bill.

"I think they ran up to the Room of Requirement," answered Victoire, who had just arrived outside. She thought that as she as Head Girl, she ought to be helping.

"Thanks, Vic," said Bill as he turned back to the tower. "Is the Fat Lady's portrait still in the right location?" He didn't want any damage to have happened to her, even though she did get annoying sometimes.

"Yes," Victoire answered. She had gone and checked that.

"Could we try and levitate it back?" asked the Muggle studies professor Erin Jones.

"It's too big," said Flitwick. "They only way this is getting back is if it's done in the same way it got here, Whizbangs."

"I'll go get George then," said Bill. "Neville, do you think you could get the boys?"

"If they don't want anyone to find them, I can't get in," Neville answered. He was certain that the boys were hiding in the Room of Requirement. "But you might be able to get in as you probably know how they think."

"Oh, right," said Bill. "Well, I'll go get George." Bill headed off the grounds and Apparated to Hogsmeade.

* * *

"George Fabian Weasley!" Bill called loudly as he walked into the Hogsmeade branch of WWW. "What in the world possessed you to send James, Fred, and Louis of all people! a box of Whizbangs?"

George had come out of the storage room when he heard his older brother's voice.

"They wanted it," he said simply as if he had done nothing wrong.

"Still, you shouldn't have done it," said Bill. "Those three went and moved Gryffindor tower to the lake-shore."

It took a few seconds for George to understand. Then he burst out laughing. "I'd love to see that," he said through his laughter.

"Well, you're gonna have to," said Bill. "The only way we think it can be moved back is if it's moved with Whizbangs."

"Oh," said George. Now he was starting to get worried.

"Get some Whizbangs and get over to Hogwarts," said Bill. "I need to get the boys and find out how they moved the tower."

Bill soon was up in the seventh floor hallway. "Now, what would they think?" he muttered to himself. "Place to hide-no, that might end up as a broom cupboard." Bill was still thinking when be heard a door creak. He quickly placed a Disillusionment Charm on himself and saw the three boys emerge, thinking the coast was clear.

"That as awesome!" shouted James. "Now, let's go and see what the tower looks like."

Bill followed them, after placing a Silencing charm on his feet and mouth. He didn't want them to find him. He also was eager to see what the three boys would think when they discovered they had moved Gyrffindor tower.

Soon they arrived at the Fat Lady. "Password?" she asked.

"Dragon," said Fred. The Fat Lady swung open and Fred walked in.

He had just started to move his other foot through the portrait when he let out a shout.

"What?" asked Louis.

"The-the tower!" he shouted. "It's not here!"

"You're kidding," said James, coming up behind Fred and looking over his shoulder. "No one can cause the tower to disappear. There must be a lot of Disillusionment charms on it. Let me through."

Bill looked on in amusement, though he was a bit nervous for safety of his nephews and Louis.

James pushed Fred out of the way and firmly stepped into the area that used to be the Gryffindor tower. There was about a foot of floor that was visible directly behind the portrait. James stood on that area briefly. He looked down. Below he saw corridors and classrooms and above was the sky. And the girls dorm area. It made sense though, mostly.

If a Disillusionment charm had been placed on the tower, areas would look like what was below or above it. He took another step and found a foothold. The next step wasn't so lucky. He hit air and started to fall. Thankfully James was able to grab the edge of the floor that was jutting out.

Fred and Louis were scared for a moment until they realized that James was safe, then the laughter started.

"I could use a hand," James grunted as he tried to hoist himself up.

Still laughing, Fred and Louis reached down to help. Bill couldn't resist staying silent any longer. He took all the charms off and quietly snuck up.

"Need help?" he asked, startling all three.

"Uh, hey Dad," said Louis nervously. Fred shifted uneasily and James struggled to pull himself up. It was bad enough getting caught by a professor, but having the professor be a relative made things even worse.

"Can you help?" asked James. Normally he would have tried to get out of there as Uncle Bill was a professor, but being stuck holding onto a ledge made of the flooring of your House made running slightly impossible.

Bill smiled and pulled his wand out. "I'd think it would be easier to levitate you up," he said. A moment later all three of them were back in front of the Fat Lady.

"What's going on?" she asked. "No one has come here except for your four."

"We'll explain later," said Bill, eying the three sheepish looking boys.

As they started off downstairs Bill asked, "So, what were you trying to do?"

"Well, we were all bored in the common room and Victoire walked in," James started.

"She told us to scat and not to blow anything up," added Louis.

"So, we took her suggestion," said Fred. "I asked Dad for some Whizbangs and well, you know the result."

"Yes, I do," said Bill. "And I must say that this is a prank that has never been seen before at Hogwarts." He also liked how the three boys were close enough that they could finish each others sentences. He sighed. Fred would've loved to see what the next Weasley generation was getting up to.

"Yeah, well, we didn't expect the tower to move," said James. "We just expected destruction."

"Well you got that," said Bill as they found themselves outside. "Come on, we need to figure out how to get the tower back before nightfall."

The three boys broke into a run, eager to see the displaced tower.

A rather large crowd had congregated around the tower. It was mostly Gryffindors, but there were several from the other houses as well. The professors were still trying to levitate it or something to get it back, but nothing was working.

"George Weasley to the rescue!" came a call. George had arrived, Whizbangs in tow.

"George Fabien Weasley!" McGonagall shouted. "What in the name of Merlin possessed you to invent those Whizbangs?"

"Oi, you liked them when they were used to terrify Umbridge!" George defended, though he was a little scared. Even though his eldest was a Hogwarts student, McGonagall could still frighten just groaned.

"Now boys, how did you have everything hooked up?" George asked. "Bill thinks - ("Flitwick think," Bill corrected) - "Flitwick thinks then that the only way to get the tower back is to use Whizbangs. Though, they will have to be set up reversely in order to move the tower back. Otherwise it'll just end up on the other side of the lake, which would be amusing." McGonagall sent a sharp glare at George for his final comment.

"Just give us the Whizbangs, and we'll do it," said Louis. At a nod from Bill, George handed the Weaslotters the boxes of Whizbangs, and the three boys got to work. The professors were watching rather nervously. All they wanted was the castle back in one piece.

George watched the boys with amusement. "Fred, Sirius, and Remus would've loved to see this," he said with a laugh. "We certainly never thought of this type of destruction."

"Yeah, normally they were against the Slytherins, so you wouldn't have even considered it," answered Bill. He too was wishing Fred could see this.

A few minutes later Ron and Harry arrived from the Auror office. "We heard there was some trouble," said Ron. "Something about a displaced tower."

"See for yourself," said Bill, and he pointed at the tower.

"What the heck?" asked Harry. He paused for a moment and said, "Don't tell me, the Weaslotters."

"Yeah," said Bill. "Each generation has more to live up to, so they need to be more creative."

"Though this is going a bit too far," said Harry. "What are they doing?"

"We're trying to send the tower back the way it came, with Whizbangs," George explained. "I think it'll work."

"It better," said Ron. "How is everyone?"

"Everyone's safe," McGonagall answered. "Thankfully they did it during breakfast, so no one was in the tower, which rarely ever happens."

"Well, just as long as it's all fixed up, everything should be fine," said Harry. "We just wanted to check on things. Bill, let me know if you can't it get back. I'm certain we'll be able to think of something."

"Will do, Harry," said Bill. "And thanks for checking up."

So saying the two Auror's left. Harry was shaking his head at his son's antics, but was very amused just the same. Ron simply couldn't stop laughing. "I think this might be just about as bad as the stuff we got up to," he said. "At least we were trying to save the school, not transport it."

Harry couldn't say anything in response. He was laughing too hard.

* * *

About forty-five minutes later the boys were done rigging up Whizbangs. This time everything was set of oppositely, and everyone hoped the tower would shoot back into position.

"On three!" cried Neville. "One! Two! Three! Fire!"

The boys lit the fuses and everyone ran for cover. An explosion rocked the ground and castle. Once the fireworks and smoke had cleared, everyone looked for the castle. "Looks like it's back it the right place," said Bill.

"Well, I should go and check," said Neville. "And you three, don't think you're getting out of a detention or three."

"Come with me you three," said Bill and the four went to his office.

Neville arrived a minute later after checking on the tower as he was Head of Gryffindor.

"Everything looks like it's the same," he said. "Furniture certainly shifted, but I think all of the rooms are in the right spots."

"Now, boys, as ingenious as this prank was, it also was extremely dangerous," said Bill. He was struggling to keep a straight face. He thought it was pretty brilliant himself, but it wouldn't be good to let them know that.

"So, twenty-five points each will be taken from Gryffindor," said Bill.

"And you'll be serving detention each Saturday for the next month once Christmas break is over," added Neville. "Separately too, I might add. We don't want you using this time to plan more pranks."

"Yes, sir," said the three boys.

"Okay," Bill said and he watched the three leave. "Louis!" he called.

"What Dad?" Louis asked in an innocent sounding voice.

"Give me that Whizbang," said Bill and he extended his hand.

With a sigh Louis reached into his pocket and pulled out the half-dozen Whizbangs he had secretly placed in his pocket.

As they left Louis asked, "How can Dad tell things like that?"

"He grew up with my dad and Uncle Fred," Fred said simply. "It figures."

"Well, we'll be talked about for the rest of history," said James excitedly. "I doubt the movement of Gryffindor tower can be upped."

"What about trying to move Ravenclaw Tower or the Astronomy Tower?" suggested Louis, who wanted to figure out a way to up their previous prank.

"Sure!" cried the other two boys and they ran off to plan more pranks, not caring about the point loss or detention.


End file.
